Unofficial news and tips about Google

August 31, 2007

Google Earth Easter Egg: Flight Simulator

Apparently, the latest version of Google Earth has an easter egg: a flight simulator. It's not quite like Microsoft Flight Simulator, but it's a promising start.

How to see this feature. Make sure you have Google Earth 4.2. Open the application, click on the globe and then press Ctrl+Alt+A. You should see this dialog that lets you choose one of the two aircrafts (F16 "Viper" and SR22) and an airport.

Here's the initial view from London Heathrow Airport:

... and here's a nice view from Kathmandu:

To fly, you need to read this list of keyboard shortcuts, but you can also use a mouse or a joystick. "To disable or enable mouse controls, left click (single click on a Mac). Once mouse controls are active, the pointer shape changes to a cross on your screen."

Marco Gallotta, who found this feature, has some tricks: "Moving on though, you can get a quick start by holding Page Up for a few seconds to increase to maximum thrust (thrust meter is the left bar of the lower-left meters). Once you've accelerated to a sufficient velocity use the arrow keys to take-off. The keys are in reverse as one would expect with any flight simulator, so use the down arrow to take-off. When you've gained enough altitude then stabalise the aircraft to a straight flight path. It can be rather tricky to get the hang of as the controls are quite sensitive."

This easter egg could become a standard feature in the next versions of Google Earth and it will bring even more fun to the application.

One small flaw, when taking off from London Heathrow, it has you facing East on the north runway, which, due to an old agreement to not take off over Cranford, NEVER happens ! You can take off on the north runway facing West, or the south runway in either direction.

Sorry, Mike, but you're wrong. The flight simulator appears in the menu only after you find it (that is, after you press Ctrl+Alt+A). The documentation is not linked from any Google page and there's no reference to this feature in the changelog. So it's a hidden feature, an Easter Egg, or whatever you like to call it.

A Google search turned out the right way of starting the simulator from Linux. In the suggested keystroke sequence "Ctrl + Alt + A", the "Alt" key is not the one labeled "Alt [Mac apple symbol] [Mac Command symbol]", but the one with "[Windows Start symbol] alt option".

I can't get this to work, latest version, Vista. Tried ctrl-A, ctrl-win-A, ctrl-alt-A, nothing seems to work. Changed keyboard layour to US (from UK), did nothing. Any ideas? Is it essential that it's the first thing you do when you open it?

I just tried to download the Linux client today and when you go to Help>About Google Earth it shows version 4.0.2735, a build from January 2007. Maybe they offered version 4.2 for Linux and pulled it because it had bugs?

Google is unbelievable! WOW! Finally competition is on the way for the buggy Microsoft Flight Simulator X! Google well done for taking it one step further...i thought Google earth could only ever be used as a flight sim aid, but this is fantastic :) Cant wait for a full blown flight sim from Google with better graphics and more reliable than anything Microsoft have made!

(Pings away a tear) YES Finally. A proper flight simulation in Google Earth. I hope this is the start of something awesome. But...

I would prefer it if Google would leave Flight simulation to those who know how to do that best (XPlane, JSBSim, FLightGear)

Instead Google please give us a decent COM API so we can write applications that make use of Google Earth. I mean your current API doesn't even allow me to set the bank angle for the camera. How about image overlays to the display? (To build aircraft instruments on).

Not to mention other world wide online trading game ideas I have that involve real-time ship simulation and Sponsored Freight.

Interesting. I have years of experience from Microsofts flightsim, both flying and creating both aircraft and scenery. Google FS is a great idea, but a lot to be developed like panels, aircraft, views etc. Controls too sensitive, but I managed to land safely on Meigs though. Great fun.

Interesting Tool ! Makes a lot of fun to fly with the Google Sim. It would be good to know if there is some more things planned from Google Side for the Flightsim (like other Planes, more View Options etc). I fly more than 10 Years on the Microsoft Simulator but this is always a nice possibility for a quick round trip or sightseeing flight beside the normal flight simualtor Fs2004 or fsx.Great Idea !

You can improve the control sensitivity problem. Go to c:Program Files/Google/Google Earth/res/flightsim.

For mouse control, open flightsim.ini in Notepad, and alter the mouse sensitivities from 0.7 to a lower figure. Save, and restart the flightsim.

For joystick,open the controller folder, open your joystick file in Notepad, and edit the axes paragraph to reduce the 1.0 value against DA and DE to lower values. Save, exit Google Earth, restart it and try the result. You should find the stick will no longer move the HUD pointer for that axis to full scale - problem solved! If the app doesn't have your joystick on file, try it with the generic file - may work?

Now if they would make the flight sim as a user-controlled fly-over of actual terrain data gathered from the satellites...

I mean, like, fly really low over, say, SanFran... and as you're coming in, you can see the cars and such parked on the top floor of the parking garage, and those are the cars that are actually there that day.

As a military pilot, this is just what I need. No, not hone my skills, but sit around the office flying Earth Sim instead of doing work... Pretty easy compared to the real thing, but fun to pass the time anyway.

Took off from LHR in F16 and climbed to 45000 ft and then set the plane on a westward trajectory, got it nice and level and straight and left it flying.

I'm currently just off the coast of the US will make landfall somewhere in north carolina I think, I've been checking my latitude and longitude by hovering mouse over a spot and using mapquest to find where I am.

I like to think of myself as the first virtual Charles Lindbergh (I know he went the other way).

it's rubbish and near uncontrollable. There is no info on how to activate the joystick, mine is a Logitech force feedback wingman, how do I activate it.Maybe if I can get it loaded the flight may have some chance of being OK.

I just bought a Logitech Force 3D joystick. Thanks to this page I learnt about the joystick configuration file in order to reduce sensitivity (I could have found it myself). The earth starts to spin like crazy when I start Google Earth in non Flight simulator mode. Even just tilting the joystick has enormous influence.

Another problem is that throttle an z axis control are swapped: In order to control throttle I have to twist the joystick about the z axis and for using the rudder I have to use the throttle slider. The same happens with the free shooting game GL-117, so I wonder who doesn't stick to conventions. In this program you can configure the controls in the GUI. I'm going to try to change the definitions in the axes part.

On Mac you can find these files by opening the Google Earth program with "show package contents" (or however it is in English) in the context menu. Contents/Resources/flightsim/controller/

Hmm, the joystick config file logitech_force_3d.ini is there, and with the instructions in generic.ini I found out how to swap the axes of throttle and rudder, but editing doesn't seem to change anything on GE 4.2.198.2451 on Mac OS X 10.4.11

I have a Logitech Force 3D Pro, whose name should match the mentioned file. In the instructions they say that matching is based on regexp, but they use only "*" instead of ".*". But even editing generic.ini doesn't change anything.

I updated Google Earth and now the program will finish starting up. The tip window appears and loads to about 45% then the computer bogs down and program is non-responsive. Reverting back to an older version did not help.Any suggestions?

Flying with GE-FS F-16 looks nice but that HUD looks like something out of a comic book. So I went and changed a little here and there. Looks a lot more like an F16 now! I cant get the compass to show heading every 10 degrees. Can anyone help??

Brilliant - runs much faster than Microsoft Flight Simulator X and has more detail. Like James said - if only it could load terrain quicker and tell me where i am (perhaps with a small birds-eye map) then it would be faultless!

I did what Joost said to see what it did but how do u change it back cos i dont like it. Also if you go to C:\Program Files\Google\Google Earth\res\flightsim\aircraft and click on f16 then change the 'power plant' bit from 120e7 or whatever it is to 500e7

It's no Microsoft Flight Simulator but, for a free program, is pretty sweet. A number of key features are missing from the jet (afterburner, weapons, ect.) but the quality is generally good. As for geographic location, you can determine the longitude and latitude of whatever point that your nose is facing (is displayed at the bootom of the screen). Happy flying everyone!

Fun, especially the speed involved with the F-16. The physics aren't very good though as the controls seem overly sensitive and don't respond well in the faster F-16. I am using a Saitek Evo joystick with it.

How realistic is the google flight simulator as it relates to actually piloting a plane?I'm curious only because it seems to come extremely natrual and easy. Even taking off and landing. I'm only using a mouse for most of the controls but it seems as though the actual mechanical controls would make it much easier to "feel" what is going on. Or, is google just faking me out? Thank's to any pilots out there who have tried the one on google!

There are a lot of queries about the afterburner, well, there isn't any promise there is one, only a general description of the capabilities of a REAL F-16. There's nothing saying or promising that an afterburner function is installed in the program.

You can simulate an afterburner take-off, though, by doing what pilots do in real life, holding the brakes while throttling-up, then releasing at maximum power. By leaving the runway fast and LOW, then 'pulling back' hard on the stick, you'll have the equivalent of an afterburner-assisted take-off. Increasing speed is difficult when in level flight, and will require a descent to a lower altitude if you're already at maximum power settings. A lower altitude is always required for Mach speeds, you'll never have that capability at the really-high altitudes. I've done a little better than Mach 1.8, but in a full-throttle dive, straight down, and playing with the controls. It might be wise to remember, also, that the speed stated in the info box is also referring to the REAL aircraft, like it's afterburner feature. (Keep in mind that Mach 1 is achieved at just over 600 on the HUD air-speed indicator.)

Someone also mentioned the controls being too sensitive, which is normal even in real life. The faster you go, the touchier the controls will be, simply do to the increased forces working on them. The SR22 is touchy, anyway, due to it's simulated lightweight handling differential.

There's a lot of room left for the imagination in this program, too. Sometimes I just 'imagine' I'm flying a commercial heavy like a 747, which, naturally, doesn't climb and turn like a fighter... or use a HUD. So, I simply adjust my speed and handling accordingly, within the limitations of a similar real-life aircraft. For example, a 747 doesn't leave the runway at 300 knots, and immediately do a hard 90-degree roll! Or, I'll fly at faster than 747 speeds, but under those of fighter aircraft, and imagine I'm in a Concorde! So, there's really no need for 'extra' aircraft, in my view.

ANDERS- Truly nice to see the real landscape. Since MS has closed its simulator department, somebody will have to merge these two somehow by having Google hire up those guys or buy one of the other great sim companies to finish up but it only needs 2 changes now anyway. The heads up display should have second normal horizon option,and a little less control sensitivity, and a IR head position tie in (I like those but..)HAPPY

my comments were just edited out? I mentioned MS just layed off most of its sim staff? Anyway, have an optional normal horizon indicator and make the control sensitivity adjustable or have a second lower setting(less code!) happy happy otherwise!

i think this is great!!! goodjob google ,i been playing this for 2 days str8 now..its addicting ive flown all over the world..love it!!can not wait till google adds more features..but i can not complain..hey its free..so anything thats free is for meeeeee..happy flying ppl have fun

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